Data Source Scheme (DSS) — When a Community Needs Its Own Controlled Code

ISO 20022 Beyond the Message

It is a governed mechanism that allows an industry body to use a proprietary code set — one that is not owned or managed by ISO 20022 — in specific ISO 20022 Message Components where that use has been approved .

The banks, authorities, issuer labels and code values in the workshop stories below are fictional. They illustrate mapping and operating decisions; they are not entries from the published DSS register or evidence that a payment service accepts those values.

DSS does not mean “custom code allowed.” It means “a proprietary code set is explicitly identified, governed and approved for use in a specific ISO 20022 context.”

The official ISO 20022 definition is very clear: a DSS can replace a standard code set — either an ISO 20022 managed code set or another ISO standard code set such as BICs or ISINs — in specific Message Components, where the use of that DSS has been approved.

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